For just the second time and first since Dec. 8, head coach Matt Campbell met with Penn State reporters on Wednesday afternoon inside the Beaver Stadium media room to provide updates on his team as he embarks on his first offseason in Happy Valley.
Campbell shared early plans for a spring game, the process of building a roster and his experience at other Nittany Lion sporting events.
Blue-White Game plans
Penn State’s annual Blue-White Game took many forms over the last several years under James Franklin, morphing into something between a scrimmage and a glorified padded practice, and with a new coaching staff in place, its future was unknown.
According to a report from 247Sports last spring, Campbell was “leaning towards no spring game” last year at Iowa State, though the Cyclones eventually had one. Campbell confirmed on Wednesday that a spring game will take place at Penn State in some capacity, though details are still being worked out.
“[Athletic Director] Pat [Kraft] and I are deciding how we’ll do the Blue-White Game and what that will look like,” he said. “We will certainly do something, and that information will get out here, hopefully early next week, in terms of what that will look like.”
Per guidelines, college football teams are allowed 15 spring practices, with the 15th typically used for some variation of a spring game. For many Penn State coaches and players, it will be their first season in Happy Valley, meaning there’s limited time to prepare for the event and limited experience with it.
“What that’ll look like probably will base a lot on our health of where we’re at at that point, and then you know making sure we do a great job of getting out there and getting great work,” Campbell said.
He added that he didn’t want the players’ first experience playing in Beaver Stadium to be for the season-opener against Marshall on Sept. 5.
Assembling a team
In the interim between when Franklin was fired and Campbell was hired, early National Signing Day came and went in December with little action for the Nittany Lions, who signed just two recruits — quarterback Peyton Falzone and edge rusher Jackson Ford — the smallest contingent in the country.
Due to coaching uncertainty and turnover, Penn State found itself behind schedule, but they quickly put together a 2026 recruiting class, composed of former Iowa State signees and uncommitted prospects.
Not only that, the team hit the transfer portal hard, bringing in 40 players from across the country, including underclassmen and veterans at all different positions. Several of those players signed on Wednesday, prompting questions about Campbell’s roster-building philosophy.
“We went with a mentality of not wavering from who we want this football team to be, what the value systems of character and young men that love the sport of football, young men that love Penn State, and I would say, most importantly, young men also to know the understanding the value of an education from this institution,” Campbell said. “Those core values were really critical for us to kind of build this football team forward.”
Embracing the community
It’s not often Campbell finds himself as a fan in the stands during sporting events instead of a coach on the sidelines, but he had a pair of opportunities last weekend.
“I said to Pat after the wrestling match and hockey, it’s really two of the greatest collegiate sporting events I’ve ever been a part of,” Campbell said.
On Friday night, he watched the Nittany Lion wrestling team defeat Nebraska 26-12 and had an opportunity to address the fans. Campbell and head coach Cael Sanderson — both with ties to Iowa State — have been highly complimentary of each other in recent months and have talked frequently about coaching and other topics.
“To watch Cael and his team, to watch this fanbase, to watch the excellence it stands for, and to see the fanbase be so educated on what’s going on even within the match was so powerful to watch,” Campbell said.
The next day, Campbell headed to Beaver Stadium where he performed the ceremonial pregame puck drop before the No. 5 Nittany Lions faced off against No. 2 Michigan State, resulting in a 5-4 overtime loss.
While Penn State failed to pull out a win, Campbell was able to experience a first taste of the atmosphere inside the stadium and was inspired by the fight of the team.
“To be able to watch that place fill up gave me chills, just seeing how special of an environment that is … the excellence of the competition, what they stood for, how they competed until the very end, those things were great for our players, our staff to watch,” Campbell said.
